The Final Hurdle
by amylase126
Summary: Sequel to To Boldy Go & Learning Curve. Jim and Rosie have managed to figure out how to separate their work and relationship, but there's one last thing standing in their way. In between terrorist attacks and secret plots, a surprising visit from the past proves nothing is as it seems and will challenge everything the pair has ever known.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :)**

**XXXX**

"This is so stupid," Jim huffed, crossing his arms across his chest as he leaned back in his captain's chair grumpily.

"Mmm?" Rosie made a non-committal noise, never glancing away from the screens in front of her. "What's stupid?"

"This," out of the corner of her eye, she saw his flail a hand around in the air towards the view screen. "Scanning a planet."

"You shouldn't say things like that," Rosie admonished, tapping away at a keyboard. The computer chirped as it saved the data. "You're already on thin ice. Again. You're lucky we're the only two on the bridge."

"If I was lucky, you wouldn't be so focused on that computer…" Jim grumbled to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing," Jim answered. "I know, I know. I should just be glad we're on a mission. But we could be of so much more use. I mean, come on! We got rid of Nero over a year ago. You and I got over our overprotectiveness and are able to work together now." Rosie quirked an eyebrow. "For the most part, anyway," Jim added quickly. "We've been on a few actual missions, including that one with the horta, and they've all worked out fantastic. Sure, our means are unconventional sometimes…"

Rosie burst out laughing. "That's the understatement of the year," she choked out.

"Shut up," Jim began to pout even more. "All I'm trying to say is that I think we should be being put to better use. Not just surveying missions."

"Jimmy," Rosie sighed, finally taking her attention away from the screens and looking at him. "The mission with the horta did go well. That's the only one that did go without a hitch. I think you're forgetting that you've accidentally violated the Prime Directive three times, and we've all covered for you as best as possible."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"When Spock's fake ear fell off on the planet that hadn't had any contact yet with an alien species. You got off with a slap on the wrist with that one, because it was really an accident. That weird M-class planet a few months ago where you swore the dust storm wouldn't die down, and it did, showing off the _Enterprise_. Those people weren't supposed to know we were there helping. You got in trouble for that one. They were going to take the ship away from you, but I think Chekov managed to convince them it was a calculation error somehow. And just last week, you dropped those blueprints for the tricorder updates Scotty is working on, and the planet's native found it. We're still hoping no one notices that one. Spock is having a really hard time holding his tongue. I've talked him out of going to Starfleet with that one a few times already."

"Those were all accidents!" Jim sighed dramatically.

"Jim," Rosie came and stood in front of him. Leaning forward, she placed a hand on each arm of the chair. "You just don't get it. This is serious." She scanned his blue eyes for any sign he was taking the information to heart. "You're way too overconfident on these 'stupid' missions. Those kinds of accidents shouldn't happen. Ever. You are going to get yourself in some serious trouble one day. The kind of trouble I'm not going to be able to get you out of, even if I erase it from the record."

"You worry too much. Nothing like that is…"

But Jim's train of thought was cut off as Spock entered the room. He quickly scanned and assessed the scene in front of him and began speaking, "Forgive my interruption, Captain. Lieutenant Commander Moure. I thought you would be watching the scanners…"

Rosie's shoulders slumped in defeat. She straightened back up and ran her hands down the front of her uniform dress to smooth it. "It's quite alright, Spock," she flashed him a smile. "I was just trying to make Jim realize something, but he just doesn't get it." And with that, she moved back over towards the screens.

Jim pushed himself up out of the captain's chair and stalked off into his ready room, mumbling about people always telling him what to do. Rosie sighed again as she resumed typing at her keyboard.

"What were you two conversing about?" Spock asked, moving over to stand near Rosie.

"Just Jim's bullheadedness and stupidity. He's really going to get himself stripped of the ship one day, and I don't know how to make him see that."

"Are you alright?" Spock reached over awkwardly, pulling his hand back a few times before placing it on her shoulder. When Rosie's only answer was a tight nod, he continued, "I do not wish to see you upset."

"I'll be fine, Spock." When she turned to face him, he perceived there were no tears in her green eyes, so he took her word for it. "I'm just frustrated. Every couple has arguments here and there."

"Indeed," Spock said much more quietly than he normally would. He removed his hand and began to move towards his post.

Rosie stopped what she was doing and turned to face the Vulcan. "Are _you_ alright?" She emphasized the question.

"I am in adequate health. Thank you for asking," came Spock's curt reply. He never turned to face her.

"Are you and Nyota okay? If you need someone to talk to…" before Rosie could finish the statement, an alarm bell started shrieking from her console. That got Spock's attention, and he was over next to her faster than she could blink.

Another moment later, Jim burst out of his ready room, "What's going on?"

"The sensors have picked up a geological disturbance on the planet's surface, Captain," Spock answered immediately.

"A volcano," Rosie clarified. "A really big, really powerful volcano."

"What?" Jim asked again, leaning forward and squinting at the numbers and symbols rapidly flashing across the screen.

"It will most likely wipe out the planet's surface, as well as its inhabitants, Captain."

"We have to stop it," Jim answered without hesitation. He flipped the switch on the communicator console to talk across the ship. "Uhura, Sulu, McCoy, and Scotty to the bridge. Right now!"

XXXX

When Scotty finally ambled into the bridge, all of the people Jim had called for were finally assembled. However, the discussion hadn't waited for Scotty, and the other six people were in an all out argument on the bridge.

"You can't, Jim!" Rosie was shrieking. Most of the people looked at in in horror. "Look, I know it sounds terrible that I'm suggesting we sit here and do nothing as that volcano wipes out the planet and its people, but that's all we can do! It'd be a huge violation of the Prime Directive, and you're already on Starfleet's radar!" When no one seemed to be agreeing with her, she turned to the one person who was a stickler for rules. "Help me out here, Spock! Please!"

"Rosie is correct…" Spock said as the attention turned towards him. "It would indeed be in violation of the Prime Directive to help a society, especially one as primitive as this, to evade a natural disaster, even if it results in their annihilation."

"Spock! How can you be so heartless!" Uhura shouted at her boyfriend.

Rosie could've sworn Spock flinched at that. The Vulcan coughed slightly before continuing, "However, it would be a loss to science if we were to allow a society we do not already know much about to fall into extinction. Perhaps if we were able to assist without their knowledge…"

"Great!" Jim cut him off. "Spock's on board. Now, here's the plan…" Jim continued on, without giving any of Rosie's protests a second thought.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Oh, goodness, I'm so sorry I've been gone so long! With the holidays, and then the final bits of wedding planning (I got married on Saturday! I'm now officially a Mrs!), I didn't get around to getting this typed up sooner. I hope you all enjoy it! Please let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :)**

**XXXX**

"This is so stupid," Rosie echoed Jim's earlier sentiments, placing her face into her hands and shaking her head. She was standing in the transporter room with Jim and Bones. The men stood in front of her on the transporter pad, dressed in long, grey cloaks. Bones gave her a tight smiled, before he hauled the hood of his up, covering his face entirely. "Seriously, Jim?"

Jim gave her a crooked smile before nodding vigorously. "It's great, isn't it? The Nibirans will never know we're aliens."

"Just because you put on a cloak to make yourself into a non-distinct humanoid…" Rosie sighed. "This is ridiculous. Get off the transporter pad. You can't do this."

"Why are you being like this?" The hurt in Jim's face was evident. "You know this is going to work to save those people."

Rosie reached out and ran her hands down his arms. "It's not about those people. It's about you. Your cockiness. You're not invincible, Jimmy. Something's going to go wrong one day. You're dropping Spock into an active volcano, while you distract natives that we have no indication of their violence levels, and having Spock activate this bizarre freezing mechanism that Scotty and I whipped up in twenty minutes at your insistence. _Something_ is bound to go wrong. I don't even know if the mechanism is going to work."

"Oh, come on," Jim's grin returned. "When has anything you've ever made didn't work like you wanted it to?"

"I think you're forgetting the engineering system that's installed on this very ship that kills anyone who uses it besides me," she deadpanned in response.

"Erm," Jim flinched back at that one. "Right. Well, everything besides that has worked." He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead before stepping further back onto the transporter pad. "We'll be back soon." And with that, the transporter's golden swirls began encircling him and Bones, and in a moment, they disappeared down to the planet's surface.

XXXX

Jim had snagged the first thing he saw upon entering the temple-like building: a large, ratty scroll. He underestimated how much value the Nibirans would put on such an object however, as the minute he took two steps with it, they were hot on his trail, determined to get it back from him.

He plowed through the forests of blood-red, scraggily trees and foliage, back towards the meeting point he had set with Bones before he ventured anywhere closer to the temple.

After a quick glance over his shoulder to check the distance he had between himself and the Nibirans, he turned back and skidded to a halt. A reddish-brown native creature was in front of him, fangs bared. Jim did the only thing he could think of: he pulled his phaser out and stunned the thing.

As it fell, Bones' figure appeared behind it. He tugged the hood off his face before shouting, "Damn it, man! That was our ride you just stunned!"

"Oh, great," Jim tugged his hood off as well. However, the moment didn't last long as the white natives closed in on them, shrieking. "Run!" Jim yelled back as he took off.

"What the hell did you take from them?"

"I don't know!" Jim yelled back. "But they were bowing to it!"

"Don't you ever think before you do anything!"

"Yes," Jim answered without really hearing the question. He pulled out his communicator, despite everyone's attempts at telling him not to, and shouted into it, "Kirk to shuttle one! Locals are out of the kill zone! Repeat, you are clear! Spock, get in there and neutralize the volcano!"

"Captain, did the indigenous life forms see you?" Spock's voice came through the little machine in his hands.

"No, they did not!"

"The Prime Directive clearly states there can be no interference with the internal development of alien civilizations…"

"I know what it says!" Jim yelled back. "I've heard it more than enough times from you and Rosie today if I'd ever forgotten it. So I think I have a good grasp on it! Hence why I'm running through the jungle wearing a disguise! Now drop off the damn superice cube, and let's go already! Kirk out!" Jim slammed the communicator shut. That's when the arrows started flying at the pair.

"God damn it, Jim! They're trying to kill us!"

"I realized that!" Jim shouted back as the communicator chimed again.

"Captain, I have to abandon the shuttle!" Sulu's voice rang out. "You two will have to make it back to the _Enterprise_ on your own!"

"Wonderful," Jim muttered to himself, although he was sure the communicator picked it up. Jim turned his direction a bit.

"Jim! The beach is that way!" Bones screamed from behind him, jabbing a finger in the air. "That way! Jim!"

"I know!" Jim shouted as he hung the scroll up on a branch. It immediately stopped the Nibirans persuit. "We're not going to the beach!"

It took a moment, but realization dawned on the doctor. "Oh, no, no, no, no!" He started yelling. "No, Jim! I hate this! I hate you!"

"I know you do," Jim shouted back just as he reached the cliff and jumped. Bones followed immediately after him, and a few seconds and meters later, the men slammed into the water below. Taking a deep breath, they dove down and swam to the _Enterprise_, hiding underneath the ocean.

XXXX

Rosie sat anxiously on the bridge. Neither Jim nor Bones had been in contact in almost an hour. She knew she wouldn't hear from them; the natives weren't technologically advanced in any sense, so obviously they couldn't whip out a communicator and talk to her, but she was still worried.

However, that worry for Jim was quickly replace. Uhura burst into the bridge, looking frantic. "What's wrong?!" Rosie leapt up and ran over to the woman. "Nyota?"

"Spock," she choked out, "he's still in the volcano."

"What?!"

"We lowered him down, and the shuttle's engine overheated and we were going to leave, but when we were pulling him back up the line snapped…I wanted to go after him, but Sulu said we couldn't…" Nyota rambled.

"It'll be fine," Rosie reached out and placed her hand on the taller woman's arm. "We'll get him back." Just then, Jim and Bones walked onto the bridge.

"Keptain on zee bridge!" Chekov shouted out dutifully.

Shouting over the Russian, "Jim, Spock's trapped in the volcano."

"What?" He turned quickly to Uhura. "Do we have an open channel with him?"

"The heat's frying his comms, but we still have contact at the moment." Rosie gave the woman credit; her boyfriend was currently trapped in an active volcano, and it had only taken her a moment to gather herself up the best she could.

Jim pushed a button on the console next to Chekov at the head of the bridge. "Spock?"

"I have activated the device, Captain," the Vulcan's voice echoed scratchily through the room. "When the countdown is complete, it should render the volcano inert."

"Jim, that'll kill him!" Rosie shrieked.

"Yeah, and that'll render _him _inert!" Bones shouted at the same time.

"Can we use the transporters?"

"Negative, sir," Chekov began, "Not wis zhees magnetic fields."

"I thought Rosie and Scotty had been working on overcoming that," he turned to face the blonde girl standing on the bridge.

"It's an experiment. It's not perfect yet," she rushed to defend herself.

"I need to transport Spock back to the ship!" Jim yelled, getting a bit frantic. "Give me some way to do it!"

"Maybe if we had some sort of direct line of sight," Chekov reasoned, looking towards Rosie for confirmation.

"Yeah," she nodded, ponytail flying wildly behind her, "that'd be your best chance."

"Hold on, man," Scotty interjected, having just entered the bridge to catch the last snippets of the conversation. "We're talking about an active volcano, here! Sir, if that thing erupts, I cannae guarantee that we can withstand the heat!"

Sulu chimed in next, "I don't know if we can even maintain that kind of altitude."

"Our shuttle was concealed by the ash cloud," Spock crackled through again, still apparently following the conversation. "The _Enterprise _is too large. If you were to utilize it in a rescue effort, it would most certainly be observed by the indigenous species."

"I know, you know the rules!" Jim yelled at the Vulcan. "But there has got to be an exception!"

"None. Such action violates the Prime Directive."

"Spock, please…" Rosie begged. "We're trying to save you!"

"Rosie, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," Spock answered her. "You know the rules just as well as I. The rule cannot be broken. Please, take care of Ny…" the comm started to fizzle out.

Next to Rosie, Nyota's breaths became shallower. Jim turned to them, "Try to get him back online!" Nyota nodded frantically and dashed over to her console.

"Ninety seconds to detonation, Sir," Chekov announced.

"What would Spock do if I were the one there?" Jim wondered out loud.

"He'd let you die," Bones answered.

A strangled sound came from behind them. Jim looked over his shoulder to see Rosie standing there, her arms wrapped around herself. "I tried to warn you, Jim. I tried."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Phew, dramatic. Hope you enjoyed! Please let me know what you thought!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :)**

**XXXX**

"What would Spock do if I were the one there?" Jim wondered out loud.

"He'd let you die," Bones answered.

A strangled sound came from behind them. Jim looked over his shoulder to see Rosie standing there, her arms wrapped around herself. "I tried to warn you, Jim. I tried."

The entire bridge was silent for a few moments as Jim debated what to do. Finally, he announced, "We have to go get him."

"Are you sure, Jim?" Bones voices from alongside him.

"I can't just let him die in there."

As soon as Jim said the word, the bridge scurried to get the _Enterprise_ up and running. Soon, they had risen out of the water and had the volcano in sights on the view screen. It was a tense few moments as countdown for the machine's detonation ticked by on the screen in front of everyone. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when, at just moments before the timer hit zero, the communicators crackled to life with the voice of the transporter engineer, announcing he had Spock. Uhura sagged against her console in relief as Jim and Bones dashed out of the room.

XXXX

Spock was standing, looking confused, in the middle of the transporter pad as they rounded the corner into the room. "Spock!" Jim wheezed, "you all right?" He gulped air, trying to catch his breath.

"Captain," Spock looked down towards Jim and Bones, "you let them see our ship."

Jim stood there in shock, shaking his head as Bones waved an arm in front of him. "He fine," the doctor grumbled out before stalking out of the room.

"Bridge to Captain Kirk," Uhura's voice came over the communications systems, "Is Commander Spock on board? Is he okay?" She was clearly trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Safely and soundly," Jim answered her.

"Please inform him that the device has successfully detonated."

Jim's smiled crept back across his face as he looked back at the Vulcan. "You hear that, Spock? Congratulations. You just saved the world."

"But you violated the Prime Directive." Spock's expression still hadn't changed. "Again."

"Oh, come on, Spock. They saw us. Big deal."

XXXX

That evening, Rosie was sitting in her chambers reading a book when the door chimed. "Enter," she called out. The doors glided open with a swish, and Spock stepped in. "Hi, Spock," she said as she closed the book in her lap. "I'm glad you're all right."

Spock moved further into the room and gestured to the chair across from her. "May I?"

"Of course," Rosie nodded, leaning over to set her book on the nearby table. Spock sat down, but he didn't start speaking. Rosie waited for a few more minutes, but his uncharacteristic silence was unnerving. "I…um…thought you'd be with Nyota tonight. After everything and whatnot."

Spock clasped his hands in his lap and answered, "Nyota does not wish to see me tonight. I tried to speak with her, but she requested I leave."

"I'm sorry," she had suspected something was off earlier, and now she had her confirmation. "I'm sure she'll come around. It was a pretty crazy day."

"Indeed," Spock nodded, although Rosie wasn't sure he believed her. The pair sat in silence for a little while before Spock spoke again, "Rosie, may I speak with you about something?"

"Of course," Rosie scooted forward so she was sitting on the edge of her chair, giving the Vulcan her full attention. "You can always talk to me about anything."

"I…" Spock started. "It is about the Captain. I do not wish to upset you, but I fear I have no other person to discuss this with. You confided in me earlier that you were concerned about him not following the rules, and I believe you are the only one I can speak about this freely with without you telling the Captain himself."

Rosie took a deep breath as she pushed a chunk of blonde hair over her shoulder. "Okay," she nodded. "I promise I'll keep anything you say here in confidence."

"I am considering filing a report again him for the Nibiru incident."

"Oh." Rosie knew the disappointment in hearing that was clear on her face.

Spock saw it too, as he quickly began to rise from his chair. "I apologize," he started, moving towards the door. "I should have realized this would be too much of an emotional discussion for you…with your relationship…"

"No, no," Rosie gestured the Vulcan back to the chair. "Seriously, sit back down. It's fine." Spock moved back towards the chair much more slowly than when he'd first come in. "Do I want you to file a report? Absolutely not." Spock's eyebrows furrowed as he processed the information. "But, maybe it's what needs to happen." At that, one of Spock's eyebrows popped up, arched with interest. "I know, I know, that sounds terrible coming from me."

"It does not sound terrible. It sounds logical to someone such as I," Spock told her. "However, I am confused that you would consider it so, because of your relationship with the Captain. I am certain you are aware that such a report could cause him to be stripped of his captaincy, and potentially therefore no longer serving on the _Enterprise_ with you."

"You're always so cheery, Spock," Rosie laughed, but there was no mirth in it. Spock looked confused, so she went on, "Sarcasm. Sorry. Yeah, I'm aware of that. It would be horrible to have him removed from the ship. There's no doubt about it. But he's not changing. He's getting more reckless, day-by-day. He almost got you killed today." Rosie sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know how else to get through to him."

"I have not decided on a course of action," Spock spoke. "Our mission logs are not due for another few days. I suppose…I believe I needed to inform you that I might be filing a report. I did not wish for you to be surprised by it later on, should I choose to continue on with it."

"I appreciate it," Rosie smiled sadly. "I know it must've been awkward, sitting here trying to tell me you might report my boyfriend for violating the Prime Directive."

"Rosie, you know I am a Vulcan," Spock interjected. "And as such, I do not succumb to emotions such as awkwardness."

Rosie laughed, this time with a little genuine amusement. "Of course, of course. Sorry. I won't say anything to anyone about a possible report. Thank you for telling me." Spock nodded and stood to leave, but Rosie stopped him once more. "Oh, Spock? Can I tell you something?"

"Seeing as I have just confided in you," the Vulcan spoke, still standing, "it would only seem logical that you could confide in me as well."

"Well…it's more of an apology…" Rosie flushed a bit as Spock raised an eyebrow. "I know I've apologized a million times for the Kobayashi Maru override…but I want to apologize for something I called you when I first suggested the override to Jim." Spock inclined his head for her to continue. "I know you weren't there to hear it, but considering today's circumstances…well…anyway. I told Jim you were a pompous, follow-the-rules-to-a-tee jerk. I'm sorry I said that. With how reckless and idiotic Jim's been lately…Well, we need more people like you, Spock. People who follow the rules. I know there's always exceptions to the rules, but Jim's taken that idea way too far lately," she finished lamely.

"I accept your apology and appreciate the sentiment," Spock told her. She smiled at him. "I will be back before the logs are due to inform you of my decision." And with that, he exited her quarters.

"I hope you don't report him," she said out loud to herself. "But I certainly wouldn't blame you if you did." Sighing quietly, she picked her book back up and tried to go back to reading to pass the time until Jim got off his watch shift.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Yay another chapter! I'm so glad to see some of my old readers coming back! Hope you all enjoyed the next chapter! Please let me know what you thought, good, bad, or otherwise! I'm always open to any feedback.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

True to his word, Spock had returned two days later, the day before his mission log was due to be filed in Starfleet's systems and told Rosie what his decision had been. It was what she had been expecting, but it still hurt.

XXXX

A few days after arriving back in space dock, at quarter to seven in the morning, Jim's communicator started chirping. Jim, of course, was pretending to sleep through it, even though Rosie had felt him shift when it had first gone off. Shoving him, she mumbled into her pillow, "Just answer the damn thing."

It took a few more carefully aimed pushes and kicks before Jim finally grunted and rolled over, grasping the little machine that was sitting on the end table next to his side. "Kirk, here," she heard him growl, his voice scratchy from sleep. She must've dozed back off in the short amount of time however, because she didn't hear any of the rest of the conversation.

A few minutes later, Jim leaping from the bed jostled her back to semi-consciousness. Sitting up, she watched him scrambled around the room looking for clothes. "Wha're you doin?" Rosie managed to squeeze out around a yawn.

"Looking for my dress grays," Jim told her over his shoulder as he began digging through a drawer. "Admiral Pike called."

Rosie tried to run a hand through her tangled mess of blonde hair as she thought, but it got snagged so many times she gave up. "Did you check the closet? Behind mine?"

"I thought I wore them…" Jim trailed off as he moved towards the location she'd suggested. Rosie heard the clatter of hangers being shoved against one another.

"Ah hah!" Jim shouted triumphantly, hauling the uniform out of the closet. "You were right."

"Always am," Rosie mumbled sleepily, beginning to doze off even though she was sitting upright. Jim let her fall asleep like that as he hurried off to the bathroom to shave and get dressed.

When Jim emerged from the bathroom, Rosie had managed to fall over sideways and was sprawled across their bed, her breathing deep and even. Jim smiled at her, walked around to his side of the bed, and leaned over to place a kiss on her lips. When she stirred a bit, he said quietly, "I'll be back this afternoon. Love you."

"Lov'…you too," she mumbled, voice thick with sleep. "Where you goin'?"

"Admiral Pike called a little while ago," Jim reminded her, unsure if she'd even been awake enough to have remembered the conversation. "He wants to see me and Spock at 0800."

"Mmm…'kay," was all Rosie got out before she drifted off again.

Jim laughed lightly, shaking his head at her. He didn't disturb her again before he headed out to the meeting he was hoping would take him, Rosie, and the rest of the crew of the _Enterprise_ on a five-year, deep space mission.

XXXX

Around nine in the morning, Rosie finally really woke up. Rolling herself out of her bed, she noticed she was alone. "Jim?" she called out, even though she had a vague recollection of him saying he was going out somewhere.

She went through her morning routine, brushing her teeth and hair, getting dressed before she stumbled on the note Jim left for her on the kitchen table.

_Meeting with Pike 0800. See you this afternoon_.

"Oh,crap," Rosie realized just what was going on at that meeting. And it certainly wasn't what Jim thought it was going to be. She moved over to the couch and sat down, preparing herself for when Jim came home furious.

XXXX

"God damn Vulcan!" Jim's shouts rang out almost immediately after the door banged open, slamming into the wall.

"Jim!" Rosie squeaked. She'd thought she'd been ready for his tantrum, but it still managed to catch her off guard. "What's wrong?"

"Spock's a goddamn asshole that's what's wrong!" he roared as he slammed the door shut again. Rosie made a mental note to get the antique door to their apartment upgraded to an automatic sliding one as soon as possible. "He told them what happened on Nibiru in his report!"

Rosie eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She knew Spock had filed a report on the incident, but she didn't see where Jim was going with this. "What do you mean he told them? He filed a report?"

"That too!" Jim shouted, banging through the kitchen cabinets now, for what Rosie wasn't sure. "I had to save his life, so I fudged my report, and he put the truth in his report, and now I'm the one in trouble!"

"Jim!" Rosie jumped up from the chair. "What did you put in your report?"

"I said it was uneventful! I guess I should've mentioned we stopped the volcano and left out the 'they saw our starship' part, but I didn't expect him to be completely honest in his!"

"Jimmy!" she moved across the room to stand next to him. "You lied on an official report! You just _can't_ do that!"

"Well, I realize that now," he sneered at the eggs he'd cracked into a bowl and started beating furiously. Rosie preferred real food to replicated food, so they had a small kitchen in the apartment. "God damn, green-blooded hobgoblin…"

"Don't call him that," Rosie sighed. "How much trouble?"

"Big," Jim sighed, setting the fork down as he moved to put a pan on the stove. "Admiral Marcus threw the book at me. They took the _Enterprise_ away from me and are sending me back to the Academy."

"Oh no…" Rosie had expected it. She'd even spoken about the possibility of it with Spock days ago. It was no easier to hear, however. "Oh, Jimmy. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," Jim said stiffly as the eggs turned black in the pan. "It's fine. I'm…uh…I'm going to go out," he told her as he scraped the ruined eggs into the garbage and tossed the pan into the auto-cleaning sink.

"Jimmy, wait…" Rosie moved after him, but he didn't stop. He was out the door before she could say anything else."

**XXXX**

**A/N: New chapter! Thank you to all my old and new followers/favorites on here! I really appreciate knowing people enjoy the story. Also, thank you to FieryRedSunrise for being my first review on this one, as well as your well wishes! I'll try to get as much written as possible before my honeymoon in March so you guys don't have to wait too long! Please let me know what you thought of the new chapter :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

Rosie paced around their apartment for a good half an hour before sitting down in front of the videophone in the corner of the living room. She punched in the number from memory and waited as the ringing chimed through the room.

A little while later a woman with a high-pitched, secretarial voice answered, "This is Ensign White. You're reached Admiral Christopher Pike's office. He's not available at the moment. Can I take a message for him?" The blonde young woman Rosie saw in the video screen scowled at her, as if she was trying to scare her off.

"Look, Ms…White, right?" Rosie hadn't even been fully paying attention when she'd introduced herself. The woman nodded curtly. "I really need to speak to Admiral Pike. It's an emergency. Are you sure he's not in?"

"He's currently in a meeting with Admiral Marcus. It's very important." The woman's face curled into a twisted smirk, as if she knew more than Rosie.

Sighing, Rosie shoved her hair back in irritation. "I would assume that it's important," she started, narrowing her green eyes, "especially given the circumstances surrounding Jim Kirk right now. Since you know, he just stormed out of our apartment."

The ensign's eyes flew wide, recognition finally dancing across her face. "Oh…oh! Lieutenant Commander Moure!" she started grasping for words. "I didn't…didn't recognize you not in uniform!"

"Of course you didn't," Rosie muttered under her breath.

"Admiral Pike said you'd call. I'll inform him as soon as possible to call you back!"

"You do that," Rosie said as she slammed her hand down on the button, disconnecting the video feed and ending the call.

Rosie continued to sit in the chair in front of the videophone, knowing it wouldn't take long for the rude ensign to track down Pike. In just under fifteen minutes, her phone started chiming, the screen lighting up with the message _Incoming Call –Admiral Christopher Pike_.

Leaning forward, she pressed on the button to answer. Pike's face flickered into view quickly. "Your secretary sure is a bitch, Sir."

"White? Really?" Pike's eyebrows popped up in surprise. "She seems like such a nice girl."

"May I speak openly?"

"You always can, Moure. You know that."

"You should be careful. Secretary's either got a crush on you, or is trying to use you to get ahead."

Pike leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, thinking. "Perhaps you're right. But you didn't call me the first time to chat about my secretary, I'm sure." Rosie shook her head. "You want to know about Jim."

"I already know they took the _Enterprise _from him…" Rosie trailed off, a new question popping into her mind. "Who's going to be in charge of my ship, sir? Please tell me it's not someone ridiculously incompetent."

Pike let out a loud laugh, a relief after the day he'd had. "I can assure you, he's fully capable of handling your ship with the utmost care." Rosie sat in anticipation, waiting for a name. "Me. They're giving her back to me." Pike sounded a bit sad.

"Oh, thank god," Rosie let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in a rush. "I'm glad it's you." The pair sat in silence over the videophones for a few moments before Rosie started again, "Admiral…sir…"

"I've told you about a hundred times since the _Narada_ incident to call me Chris."

"Chris," Rosie said quietly, using the man's name for the first time ever, "is there _anything_….anything at all that you can do to keep Jim out of being sent back to the academy? I've never asked you for anything before. Please."

Pike sighed. "I'm doing what I can," he shook his head lightly. "I promise you I'll do everything I can. I've got another few meetings with Admiral Marcus this afternoon. Hopefully, I'll have an answer for you two by this evening." Pike leaned forward now, glancing around behind Rosie. "It's awfully quiet there. I thought Jim would be throwing a royal fit."

"He already did," Rosie tucked some hair back behind her ear as she explained. "He came home screaming and slamming things. Destroyed an attempt at cooking. And then he stormed out. I don't know where he is. I'm going to go look for him after I finish talking with you."

"Go," Pike said. "You got what you need to know."

"Thank you so much," Rosie smiled slightly as she reached for the button to disconnect the call.

"Rosie!" Pike stopped her from ending the call just for another moment. "Try the dive bars around the Academy. That's usually a good bet."

She laughed a bit. "I will. That's where I was heading first. Thank you again. I don't know what either of us would do without you." And with that, she disconnected the screen.

XXXX

Rosie didn't have very good luck. She didn't know much about bars. She'd only ever let Jim take her to one for her twenty-third birthday, the night he'd gotten punched in the face. So she really wasn't good at guessing which of the fifteen dive bars along the Academy he might have preferred.

On her sixth attempt though, she got lucky. "Jimmy," she wheezed out as she flopped down in the chair to his left at the bar.

He tossed the amber colored drink in front of him into his mouth before looking at her. "Am I that predictable?"

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of his breath but leaned closer to him. "Yes and no," she said honestly. "I figured you'd be at one of the bars down here. But if it makes you feel better, I have no idea what kind of bar you prefer, so this is the sixth one I've checked."

Jim snorted. "Sorry. Guess I should've taken you to more bars over time. Then maybe you wouldn't have had to check so many."

"No, no," she assured him, placing her hand over his. "I'm not into bars anyway. I'm really sorry, Jimmy. This whole situation is ridiculous."

"I don't know what I'm going to do without you."

"Without me?" That one startled Rosie.

"I'm not good at relationships in general," Jim sighed, running his free hand through his hair. "We've been doing great. We have an apartment together. We've sorted out how to work together. And now I have to learn to have a long distance relationship with you…while I'm at the Academy and you're out in space."

"Oh, Jimmy," she curled her fingers in and grasped his hand tightly. "It'll be weird at first, I'm sure. But it'll be fine. It'll only be a few days or weeks at a time. It's not like they're sending me on some deep space, multiple year long mission."

"Right." Jim nodded, half agreeing with her, half signaling the bartender that he needed another drink.

"I talked to Admiral Pike. "Jim winced as she said it. "I know. I know…he's…. they've given the _Enterprise_ back to him. He's working on it, Jim. If there's anything he can do, he'll do it for you."

"It's true," Pike agreed with her, interjecting into the conversation as he sat down in the chair opposite of her.

"Oh great," Jim sighed, tossing back the entire glass of alcohol that the bartender had just sat in front of him.

**XXXX**

**A/N: So…it's president's day and nobody is at work…so I had PLENTY of time this morning to write a new chapter! Kinda wish it'd taken me longer haha. Now I have nothing else to do…Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed! It's so awesome to see all of my old readers coming back, as well as the new ones! I appreciate the feedback from you guys more than you know!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

"I talked to Admiral Pike. "Jim winced as she said it. "I know. I know…he's…. they've given the _Enterprise_ back to him. He's working on it, Jim. If there's anything he can do, he'll do it for you."

"It's true," Pike agreed with her, interjecting into the conversation as he sat down in the chair opposite of her.

"Oh great," Jim sighed, tossing back the entire glass of alcohol that the bartender had just sat in front of him.

"How many bars did you have to try before you ended up here, Ms. Moure?" Pike talked across Jim to her.

Rosie flushed with embarrassment at she admitted it. "This was my sixth choice," she looked down at her lap, mumbling. "You?"

Pike laughed a bit. "This was my first choice."

"Seriously? How did you guys find me?" Jim grouched from between the pair flanking him.

"We know you better than you think we do, Jim," Pike said to him. Turning his attention back to Rosie, he continued, "The first time I found him was in a dive just like this. It wasn't anywhere as neat and pretty as when I showed up on your mom's doorstep to recruit you."

"Pike recruited you too?" Jim's eyebrows arched in intrigue.

Rosie laughed a bit. "Yeah," she said to Jim. "But I don't remember it being as nice as he says."

XXXX

_Commander Pike, just a few years shy of becoming a captain himself, stood on the doorstep of the rundown house. If the child-sized starship the girl had reportedly built herself without any schooling hadn't been hovering alongside the house, he wouldn't have believed himself to be in the right place. There's been rumors flying around Starfleet for the past few years about a ridiculously young girl who was better than some of Starfleet's best engineers, but no one could produce her. _

_The rumors said her family moved her around a lot, intentionally, to avoid being found. There were bets and prizes being offered for locating her, but Pike really wasn't interested in the hype. He really hadn't been looking for her; it was more a matter of being in the right place at the right time. _

_He stopped for a moment, his hand raised to knock on the door, because there was no doorbell, and debated whether he should even bother. First, because he really didn't believe a teenage girl had built that ship floating in his peripheral vision. Second, because if for some outlandish reason there _was_ a teenage engineering prodigy in the house, perhaps it would be best to leave her and her family be, as they'd been trying so hard to go unnoticed. _

_His intrigue won out though, and he knocked on the door._

_There were some shuffling sounds from the inside, and after a moment, the dilapidated door opened. "Can I help you?" Her hand still on the inside of the door, as if to be able to shut it quickly if need be, a teenage girl looked up at Pike with big, green eyes. _

_Startled that much of the rumors seemed to be validated so far, it took Pike a moment to come up with a response. "Hello," he started lamely. "My name's Christopher Pike. Did you…do you happen to know who built that miniature starship over there?" He gestured towards the side of the house._

_The girl stepped back a bit, inching the door forward a bit. "I do," was all she said._

_"Could you tell me?" Pike tried to smile reassuringly. The girl looked like she was ready to bolt._

_"I did," she answered, her grip on the door tightening. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she continued, "Why?"_

_"You're very talented…um..." Pike realized he'd never asked for her name._

_"Rosalyn," she supplied. "Most people call me Rosie."_

_"Rosie," Pike smiled. "That's a pretty name. How old are you?"_

_"Fifteen," Rosie's grip was loosening on the door now._

_"Fifteen?" Pike echoed her, unable to believe it. "I know old men who would be very jealous of your talents, young lady." Rosie smiled at that. "Look, Rosie," he held out his hand with a piece of paper. "Take this."_

_She glanced back and forth between his face and the paper for a moment before grabbing it. "What is it?" _

_She unfolded it and began to read it as he told her, "It's my phone number. No! No, I'm not trying to be creepy," he said quickly at the look she gave him. "I work for Starfleet. Please! Listen," he stuck his hand out and held the door open as she tried to slam it. "I'm not going to tell Starfleet I found you! My phone number is for if you ever decide you want to join! If you do, just call me! I know they'll have you. They'd take you in at the academy this minute if they saw that starship!"_

_Slowly, the pressure the girl was exerting on the door decreased. She glanced down at the paper in her hands again. "I've actually thought a lot about Starfleet…" she began. Pike let his hand fall from the door, hoping it wasn't some ploy just to get him to leave. "But my mom…"_

_A shrill scream from the long driveway tore both her and Pike's attention from the house. An older woman was sprinting up towards them._

_"Oh, crap," Rosie visibly winced. "Mom!" she yelled to the woman, "Stop! Don't do anything to him!"_

_Pike severely underestimated the situation as he turned to Rosie's mother. "Ma'am," he offered his hand out to her, not noticing the look of horror crossing Rosie's face. "My name is Commander Pike…"_

_Rosie's mother reached out, taking his proffered hand, dug her fingernails into his palm, drawing blood, and threw a punch right into his nose with her other hand. Pike reeled, the woman shrieking things like, "Baby stealer!," "Starfleet scum!," and "Militaristic brainwasher!" at him as she started beating him with the bag she was carrying._

_It took a good twenty minutes, but the neighbors called the police. The police eventually showed up, hauling Rosie's mother off and restraining her from attacking Pike anymore. They didn't arrest her, simply gave her a warning and told her to go back into her house. _

_Rosie's mother stood on the doorstep, and turned back, "Come on, Rosie."_

_Rosie glanced between her mother and the receding form of Commander Pike. "But…"_

_"Now, Rosalyn."_

_It took another moment, but Rosie's face set in determination. "No, Mom. This is what I need to do for me. Mr. Pike! Sir!" Rosie turned at yelled. The man, stopped, his face red and bloody from his nose. "Can you take me to Starfleet?"_

_"Of course," he nodded, still holding his nose shut._

_"I'm coming with you!" she ran after him. Falling into step with him, she tried to tune out her mother's shrieks until they reached the edge of the property. Then, she looked back. "I love you, Mom!" she yelled back at the house. "I'll come visit soon!"_

_"If you take so much as one step off this property with that man," her mother shouted back, "you are no daughter of mine! You will never be welcome back here again!"_

_"You can stay," Pike assured her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "I won't think any less of you. You can stay and come to the academy after you've talked with her about it."_

_"No," Rosie shook her head. "This is my only chance. Let's go." And with that, Pike led her to her new life._

XXXX

"Yeah," Jim agreed with Rosie as she finished her recruitment tale, "I wouldn't call that neat or pretty either."

Pike snorted. "Who are you to talk? You got your ass handed to you the day I recruited you."

"No, I didn't," Jim replied indignantly.

"You had napkins hanging out of your nose, Jim," Pike reminded him as Rosie giggled. "It was an epic beating." That got Jim laughing too.

It took a few moments, but Jim's laughter eventually died off. "I hear they gave you back the _Enterprise_. Congratulations." Rosie placed her hand on top of his. "Watch your back with that first officer though."

"Spock's not going to be working with me. He's been transferred."

"What?!" Rosie squeaked.

"_USS Bradbury_," Pike answered. "You're going to be my first office, Jim." When Rosie and Jim continued to stare at with him identical blank expressions, he went on, "Yeah, Marcus took some convincing. But every once in a while I can make a good case."

"I don't know what to say," Jim breathed.

"You could start with thank you," Rosie jabbed him with her elbow, tears shimmering. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Pike smiled. "It's going to be okay, you two. We'll sort it out together…" Pike was interrupted by his communicator beeping. "Emergency session, Daystrom. That's us." He and Jim started to get up.

"I'll see you at home tonight, Jimmy?" Rosie asked.

"Of course," he leaned over, planting a kiss on her. "Tonight." And with that, he and Pike left the bar, and Rosie started to head home.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Phew. That was a long chapter by my usual standards! Little back-story on Rosie. Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please let me know what you thought, good, bad, or otherwise! I'm always up for feedback.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

When Rosie got back to her and Jim's apartment, she looked for something for dinner. After digging around she found a frozen pizza in the freezer. "Perfect," she smiled as she set the oven temperature. "Quick. Yummy. And definitely not replicated." They had a replicator in the apartment; most apartments came standard with them nowadays. But Rosie hated replicated food. Popping the pizza into the oven, she hurried off and took a shower while it cooked.

The pizza was finished when she came back into the kitchen, dressed in blue fleece pajama pants and an oversized tshirt. She cut it up into pieces and then sat down in front of their television. She was not, however, expecting to see the chaos in London when she flicked the screen on.

_Terrorist attack. Explosion. Bomb of unknown origin. Destroyed. _The words flashed across the screen. Rosie watched them in horror, the words not really registering as she looked at the remaining rubble of what used to be a large Starfleet data archive. "Oh my god," she breathed, setting the plate of pizza, completely untouched, down next to her as the news station reported the current death toll. "Forty two people? Who would do that? Why? Why a data archive?"

Her attention remained fixated on the screen, watching as Starfleet personnel were dug out of the rubble, both alive and possibly dead. The news never did answer her questions though.

After another few minutes, her horror was increased tenfold, as an urgent news bulletin cut into the one about the London bombing. It read: _Attack on Daystrom Conference Room_. Rosie leapt out of the chair and dashed to her videophone and started making frantic calls to anyone in Starfleet.

XXXX

It was long past midnight when Rosie hung up on what had to have been her four hundredth phone call. No one had any information on anything that was going on at the Daystrom session. She'd kept the news on, but it wasn't giving much detail either. All it really did was make her more frantic, watching that jumpship hover up along the building and start firing. She was just about to make another call when the front door opened, and Jim and Spock walked in.

"Jimmy!" she shrieked and ran across the room. "Oh my god! Are you okay?!" She wrapped her hands around the upper parts of her arms and looked him up and down. He looked beat up, exhausted, and defeated. When he didn't reply, she turned to Spock, "What happened?"

"Admiral Marcus received a confession from a man claiming that another man, named John Harrison, had forced him to commit a terrorist attack on a…" Spock began explaining as he and Rosie moved Jim towards the couch.

"The Starfleet data archive. I know, I saw," she cut in on Spock's explanation as Jim sat down heavily. She gestured towards multiple seats. "Sit, sit."

Spock nodded and moved towards a chair as Rosie sat down next to Jim, wrapping her hand around his. "This man, Harrison, it seems he attacked the archive in order to force an emergency session at Daystrom, just to attack it. We do not know who his intended target was," the Vulcan finished.

"Oh my god," Rosie repeated, sighing heavily. "Thank goodness you're both alright. I don't know what I would do without either of you."

"Pike's dead," Jim finally broke his silence.

"What?"

"Pike. He's dead. That bastard killed him."

"Oh no…" the tears filled Rosie's eyes.

Spock stood to go, "I will leave you alone to grieve. I am deeply sorry for both of your loss."

"No! Please stay…" Rosie sniffled. "You don't have to go…"

"I am going to go attend to the wreckage of Harrison's ship with Mr. Scott," Spock said as gently as he could. "Jim managed to jam the ship's engines with a gun, so the ship crashed."

"Is he alive?" Rosie asked as clearly as she could.

"I do not know. Jim believes he saw him warp out of the ship somehow as it began losing altitude."

Rosie nodded. "If there's anything, I know you and Scotty will find it. Let us know anything as soon as possible."

Spock nodded, but didn't say anything. He quickly left, as Rosie turned and wrapped her arms around Jim.

XXXX

It was a little after sunrise. Jim was still awake, but Rosie had dozed off, her head resting in Jim's lap as she slept, when Jim's communicator chirped. Jim was going to ignore it, but when Rosie stirred a bit, he flipped it open. "Yeah?"

"Jim," Spock's voice came through the device in his hand. "Mr. Scott has found something in the wreckage of Harrison's ship. He has asked to see you and Rosie right away."

"We'll be right there," Jim answered and shut the communicator. He watched Rosie sleep for a moment, watching the peaceful fall and rise of her chest with her breathing, and wished he didn't have to wake her up and make her remember the events of the past twenty-four hours. Gently, he nudged her shoulder, "Rosie. Wake up." She mumbled something unintelligible, but one green eye cracked open and peered up at him. "Scotty found something."

It took a moment, but one the words registered, she leapt up. "I knew he would. Let's go!"

"Woah woah woah," Jim placed his hands on her shoulders. "Let's get dressed first."

"Oh," Rosie answered, glancing down at her pajamas. "Yeah, let's do that. And then go."

XXXX

The pair was dressed and out the door in record time. They dashed across the open plaza across from their apartment, where Spock and Scotty were standing waiting for them.

"Captain! Rosie!" Scotty told them both excitedly and angrily. "I found this in the crashed jumpship. This is how the bastard got away." He heaved up the metal contraption and placed it in Jim's hands. Jim grunted under the tubular piece of equipment's weight.

"What do you mean?" Jim said, bouncing the thing in his arms to get a better grip.

"It's a portable transwarp beaming device," Scotty answered.

"Seriously?" Rosie said, craning her neck to look at it. "I thought that was just an idea…"

"It is," Scotty answered glumly. "I cannae tell you how or why there's a fully functional one here in the Captain's arms. I've been helping with the theory to put it into reality, but it seems that's no longer necessary."

"Yeah, yeah," Jim interjected, "can you tell where he went with it?"

"Aye, Captain," Scotty did as he popped open the screen and coordinated flashed. "Already did. And you're not going to like it." Jim, Spock, and Rosie glanced at the coordinates. "He's gone to the one place that we just can't go."

**XXXX**

**A/n: Whoo! More chapters still! This one's been soooo much easier to write than Learning Curve was. Anywho, please let me know what you think, good, bad, otherwise! Feedback is always encouraging no matter what!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

"I've got to talk to Admiral Marcus," Jim announced quickly after scanning the coordinates. He heaved the machine back into Scotty's arms before taking off running.

"Go with him, Spock?" Rosie asked. "Please."

"Of course," the Vulcan inclined his head and hurried off after Jim.

When the two were out of her sight, she turned to Scotty. "Please tell me I read those coordinates wrong…or that there's something wrong with the display," she almost begged. "Qo'noS? Seriously?"

"Aye, lass," Scotty said, shifting the weight of the device. "I wish it were wrong."

"Why would anyone want to go to the Klingon home world?" she wondered out loud. "Marcus will never let Jim go after him…maybe that was the idea? The Klingons will kill him if they find him there."

XXXX

Rosie had left a message on Jim's communicator, letting him know she'd gone home and Scotty had taken the transwarp device back to his quarters at Starfleet to examine more while he was in his meeting with Marcus. She had been trying to nap on the couch when Jim barreled into the room.

"Get up," he said, tossing some clothing at her. "Pack your bag. We're going back out into space."

"What?" she said, glancing at the fabric crumpled into a pile in her lap. "What happened?"

"The archive in London, the one Harrison bombed," Jim said frantically as he tossed clothing and books into a bag. "It wasn't an archive. It was some top-secret branch of Starfleet designated some section thirty-one or something like that."

"I think I've heard of that," Rosie answered as she got up from the couch. "At least about section thirty-one. They're supposed to be developing advanced defense technologies and training people in intelligence gathering. I didn't know it was in London though."

Jim stopped what he was doing and stared at her for a moment. "How do you always know almost everything about everything?"

"I'm one of the top engineers at Starfleet," she snorted. "I can hack the files if I really want to. Also…if I hadn't…ended up in medical shortly after they took away mine and Daniel's project, I was in the process of being transferred to section thirty-one for research. After the attack, they decided I should stay at the Academy. For security reasons."

"Oh," Jim answered as he started stuffing things into his bag again.

"What does section thirty-one have to do with any of this, Jimmy?"

"I guess Harrison was one of their top agents in section-thirty one," Jim answered quickly, trying to relate Marcus' words exactly. "He helped the section develop some new type of photon torpedo that's long range and untraceable, I guess?"

"That's…seriously kind of twisted," Rosie had moved to start packing a bag, even though she wasn't sure why she was, but that announcement stopped her.

Jim ignored her. "Marcus wants us to go out to the edge of the neutral zone, and since the part of Qo'noS that Harrison is on is uninhabited, he wants us to fire those new torpedoes on him."

"Jim!" Rosie shrieked, dropping the things she was holding. "You can't just blast a man with torpedoes! I know what he did was horrible, but that's equally as horrible!"

Jim whirled around and glared at her. "Well, it's not like we can just go pluck him off the planet! It's Klingon space! We can't just waltz in there! You sound just like Spock! Whose side are you on here?"

"Yours, Jimmy…"

"Are you coming with me or not?"

"Of course, I am…I'm just…hoping we figure out a better way in transit." Rosie turned, her back facing Jim, as she continued to toss some more clothing and essentials in a bag.

XXXX

A few hours later, Rosie found herself sitting next to Spock in the shuttlecraft that was going to take them up to the _Enterprise_. "I don't think this is a good idea," she said quietly to the Vulcan next to her. "There has to be some other way."

"I am in agreement with you," Spock answered her back. "I am currently attempting to calculate any sort of other scenario that might be possible."

"Any luck?"

"None as of yet. Although statistically speaking, there is only a 5.72 percent chance that this will work out as the captain as it planned."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Rosie put her head in her hands. She was going to reply, but the sound of shouting outside the shuttlecraft cut off their conversation.

The pair sat in silence as Jim argued with Dr. McCoy about being all right for a few moments, before stalking into the shuttlecraft and flopping down in the aisle seat across from Rosie and Spock. Spock cleared his throat as he leaned forward in his seat to look at Jim, "The _Enterprise_ should be ready for launch by the time we arrive."

"Good, good."

"Also, I wish to thank you for requesting my reinstatement."

Jim smirked. "You're welcome."

"Also, as I am now first officer again, I believe it is my duty to inform you that I strongly oppose the mission parameters."

Jim sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Of course it is…"

"There is no Starfleet regulation that condemns a man to death without trial," Spock began but he was quickly redirected. "Rosie?" he turned to look at the girl sitting next to him. "Might you explain why you have repeatedly kicked me in my leg while I was trying to explain Starfleet regulations?"

"Just shut up, Spock," Rosie shook her head. "I was trying to get you to shut up. We'll sort it out later."

"I'm not going to take ethics lessons from a robot," Jim finally stopped attempting to ignore Spock.

"Resorting to name calling suggests you are feeling defensive, and therefore gives credence to my opinion that firing the torpedoes on Qo'noS is wrong."

"Wait…" Bones had been scanning Jim with his medical sensor, but he stopped dead in his tracks. "We're firing torpedoes on the Klingons?"

"Spock, just shut up!" Rosie hissed at him. "Please. You're making things a hundred times worse!"

Before Rosie or Spock could say anything further, a woman with a blonde bob cut in. "Captain Kirk?" Jim looked up at her. "Science officer Wallace. Admiral Marcus has assigned me to the _Enterprise_. These are my transfer orders." She handed Jim the PADD.

Rosie's eyes narrowed into a glare, so she tore her gaze away from the woman and Jim as he scanned the machine. "Your body language indicated you are upset by this woman's arrival," Spock whispered into her ear. "Do you know her? Is there something going wrong with your relationship with the captain?"

She could hear Jim rattling off the woman's name, rank, her credentials in applied physics and advanced weaponry and tried to tune it out. "I don't know her," she hissed back. "But I don't like her. I don't know why she's here. Jim didn't request another science officer."

"Is this what humans refer to as a gut instinct? That you do not feel comfortable with her?"

"Yes."

Spock thought for a minute before speaking, "Impressive credentials." The woman beamed while Rosie turned and scowled at Spock. "However, a bit redundant as I am aboard the _Enterprise _again."

Jim, clearly decided to get back at Spock for the earlier discussion, smirked, "Well, the more the merrier. Have a seat, Doctor."

The woman scooted in between the rows of seats and sat her self down next to Jim.

It only took a few more minutes for the crew to get the shuttle off the ground.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Getting further and further each time! And yeah…my only complaint about Into Darkness was that they spelled Qo'noS phonetically instead of how it's actually spelled…so I spelt it correctly in here :) **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

It didn't take very long for the shuttle to leave Earth and began circling the _Enterprise_, waiting for clearance to enter the hangar. It only took a few more moments, the shuttle carrying the Captain and all, for the crew to scurry around to get prepared for the shuttle to land.

When they did finally land, Rosie hurried off, rushing towards engineering. She increased her pace when she heard yelling.

"Get those damn things off my ship!" Scotty was yelling, red in the face and furious, to a stoic-looking officer.

Snickering a bit, she interjected, "Your ship?" She unzipped her flight suit from the shuttle ride, revealing her red engineering dress underneath.

"Fine then," Scotty was still yelling, but looked slightly more relaxed, "Our ship. Get those damned things off our ship."

"What are they?" Rosie moved over towards them after she'd folded the flight suit and set it on an unused counter.

"Some type 'o photon torpedoes."

"Thanks, Scotty," she rolled her eyes at him. "As if I couldn't see that."

"Well, tha's about all I can tell ye, lass," Scotty crossed his arms over his chest and scowled again. "They're shielded. And they won' give me any information on them."

"What? Seriously?" Rosie reached over and grabbed a scanner. She ran it over the torpedo in front of her, waited, and the screen blinked back blank with no information whatsoever. "What the hell? I know they're supposed to be untraceable, but I didn't know that meant we can't know _anything_ about them…that's really dangerous…"

"Captain!" Scotty suddenly yelled out, flagging down Jim.

"Mr. Scott?" Jim acknowledged him, moving over towards him and Rosie. "Is there a problem?"

"Aye, sir," Scotty walked around the torpedo to meet Jim. "I was just explaining to this gentleman that I cannae authorize any weapons to be onboard the _Enterprise_ if I don't know what's inside them."

"Jim, this is super sketchy," Rosie tried to reason with Jim again, but he cut her off.

"Mr. Scott," he pointed avoided looking at Rosie. "I understand your concern, but we absolutely need this torpedoes on board."

"But Jimmy," Rosie tried again, noticing that the blonde girl, Carol Wallace, had come up behind Jim and was looking at her strangely, "Photon torpedoes run on fuel. The scanners," Rosie held up the machine still in her hand, "can't even detect what type of fuel that's in the compartments. It's shielded."

"Aye," Scotty interjected, "I asked for the specifications, but he said…" Scotty jabbed a finger behind him at the stoic male, "it's classified. No specs, no signature, Captain."

"Scotty's right," Rosie continued on. "I know they're supposed to be untraceable, but what if one of them exploded? Without knowing exactly what kind of fuel is in them, we wouldn't know how to put it out safely…"

"I'm going to go prime the warp core…" Scotty shook his head and started walking off. "Come help me, Rosie, lass." Rosie jogged off after him to catch up.

"Scotty!" Jim yelled, but a few people held him up for just a few seconds. He ran after the pair. "Scotty! Rosie!" He was wheezing a bit when he caught up. "I need one of you to approve those weapons. Please."

"Captain, do you know what this is?" Scotty pointed a finger in front of him.

"He never did pay attention in that engineering class I taught," Rosie mumbled as Jim started complaining about not having time for a lecture.

"A warp core is a radioactive catastrophe waiting to happen, Captain," Scotty stopped in front of the core and turned to look at Jim. "A subtle shift in magnetic output, say, from thirty torpedoes…"

"It would be bad, Jimmy. It would kill every one on this ship. Rather slowly and painfully."

"Jim," Scotty lowered his voice and stepped closer to him, "for the love of God, do not use those torpedoes."

"Please, Scotty…" Jim ignored everything the pair had just said.

"No," Scotty shook his head. "No, laying those torpedoes on the _Enterprise_ is the last straw."

"What were the other straws?" Jim looked genuinely confused now.

"Other…of for the love of…there were plenty of other straws, Jim," Scotty's anger was revving up again. "How about when Starfleet confiscated my transwarp equation? And now some madman terrorist is using it to hop across the galaxy? Where do you think he got it from?"

"We have our orders…" Jim tried again lamely. Rosie shook her head and looked down at the floor.

"That's what scares me!" Scotty yelped. "This is clearly a military operation. When did Starfleet become a militaristic operation? 'Cause I thought we were explorers."

"Sign for the torpedoes. That's an order." Jim's voice was chilling with it's lack of emotion.

"Well, then you leave me no choice but to resign my duties."

"What?!" Rosie cried. "Scotty! I need you here!"

"Oh, come on, Scotty…"

"You're giving me no choice, Captain."

"Will you just make an exception and sign…"

"Do you accept my resignation or not?!"

"I do!" Jim shouted over him, and the three fell silent for a moment. Jim cleared his throat before speaking again, "I do. You are relieved, Mr. Scott. Rosie, go sign for the damn torpedoes. Don't you start with me too." And with that, Jim walked away, heading for the bridge.

"Scotty…" Rosie looked up at the older man, trying to keep her composure. "Please don't go…"

"Don't sign for those torpedoes, lass…"

"I have to…" she shook her head, indicating that it wasn't what she wanted to do. "Spock and I are trying to figure out some other way to bring Harrison back without using the torpedoes. I can't leave him alone when he's like this. He's not thinking right."

"Just be careful," Scotty reached out, wrapping his hands around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug. "I need you to come back from Qo'noS alive, lass. You're the best engineering partner I've ever had."

"I will," Rosie nodded, tears slipping out. "I'll be okay. We'll all come back okay. I'll figure something out." She pulled back, looking up at Scotty as she wiped her face off. "I'll see you soon."

"Yeah," Scotty nodded, handing her the PADD he'd been holding. He gave her a tight smile, squeezed her shoulder and headed off.

**XXXX**

**A/N: Aw, this was a hard chapter for me to write. Sad all the way around. Hope you all enjoyed it, despite the angst. Please let me know what you thought, good, bad, anything!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

Rosie was finishing up priming the warp core, not an easy feat for one person, but still manageable, when Chekov wandered down into engineering. "What're you doing down here, Pavel?" Rosie asked, glancing up from the PADD in her hands. "I though we were going to be leaving spacedock really soon. Shouldn't you be at your console on the bridge?"

"Zee keptain," Chekov started talked quickly, his accent making it a little difficult to keep up with him, "He told me zhat I was to report down here and put on a red shirt." Chekov was tugging at the hem of his yellow command shirt, looking around anxiously. "Vhy vould he do zhat? You and Mr. Scott are hiz best engineers. You two do not need my help wiz anysing, I'm sure."

Rosie swallowed and put the PADD down on the table next to her. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the young Russian boy. "Scotty…quit."

"Vhat?!"

"Jim wanted him to sign for some weaponry that Scotty didn't feel comfortable with, so Scotty resigned. I had to sign for them."

"So you are okay wizh zhees weapons?"

"No, actually. I'm not."

"Zhen vhy are you still here, if I may azk?"

"The captain needs someone who's looking out for his best interests." Sighing, she moved back towards the PADD to pick it up again. "Come on, I could use help with the warp core."

It took a good while, but eventually she stepped back announcing they were done. And it was just in time, as the communications console chirped. Chekov ran over and pressed the button, "Chekov here."

"Mr. Chekov," Jim's voice rang out, "Are we ready?"

Chekov looked back at Rosie, and she nodded her confirmation. "Yez, sir. We are."

"Thank you. Kirk out."

All was silent for a few moments, and then Jim's voice started again, this time over the ship-wide channel. He explained that Admiral Pike was dead, that it was Harrison's fault, and that they were heading out to Qo'noS to retrieve him.

"Our presence must remain undetected. Any notice of us could send the Klingons into an all-out war with the Federation," Jim's disembodied voice continued. Rosie held her breath, prepared for the next bombshell. "I will personally lead a landing party to an abandoned city of the surface of Qo'noS, where we will capture the fugitive, John Harrison, and return him to Earth so he can face judgment for his actions. Let's go get this son of a bitch. Kirk out."

"Oh, thank god," Rosie let out the breath she'd been holding is a rush. "He's not going to use the torpedoes."

"What torpedoes? Are zhoes zhee weapons?" Rosie'd forgotten she wasn't alone. She couldn't make her voice work, so she just nodded to the Russian boy.

XXXX

They were in transit, and everything was functioning properly, so Rosie decided to go back to the torpedoes. "I'll be back, Pavel," she told him as she stood up. She made her way, down the hall and turned left, where she promptly ran into Dr. Carol Wallace.

"Oh, I'm so sorry…" she apologized in a rush to the other blonde woman, standing there scanning the torpedoes. Recollecting herself quickly, she continued, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to verify that the torpedoes are internally stable," Wallace said to her with a cheery smile on her face.

"They're shielded," Rosie crossed her arms over her chest, trying not to glare at the taller woman. "You won't find anything with a basic scanner. I've already tried that."

"I can see that," the woman's smile never faltered. "Rosie, was it? Seems you're on a first name basis with everyone aboard the _Enterprise_, even the captain."

"Lieutenant Commander Moure," Rosie told Dr. Wallace, not liking the way her name came out of her mouth.

"If I may interrupt," Spock cut in before Rosie could say anything further, "I believe there is a message for you from Mr. Scott back in engineering, Rosie." Rosie narrowed her eyes, knowing Scotty wouldn't be distracting her with messages at a time like this, but took the hint and left to head back to engineering without a word.

"What are you doing?" Spock then turned to Dr. Wallace.

"As I said to…Moure," Carol turned that smile on the Vulcan, "verifying that the torpedoes…"

"You misunderstand me. What are you doing aboard the _Enterprise_? There is no record of you being assigned to this ship. A fact I am certain that Ms. Moure is aware of as well. She can be quite nosey when she wishes to be."

"I believe there must be some mistake…" Carol started to backtrack.

"My conclusion as well, Dr. Marcus." Her smile slipped of her face quickly. "Except that you have lied about your identity. Wallace is your mother's surname. One can only assume then that the Admiral is your father."

"Mr. Spock, please…" Dr. Marcus moved forward towards the Vulcan, "he cannot know that I am here…" Their conversation was cut off as the ship jarred.

XXXX

"God damn it, Chekov," Rosie stumbled into the room. "I leave you alone for three minutes…"

"Did you break my ship, Chekov?!" Jim's voice rang out through the room.

"I am sorry, Keptain!" Chekov was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. "Zee core owerheated, and I had to drop zhee ship out of warp!"

"I'll fix it, Jim!" Rosie shouted to the communcations console."

XXXX

"I'll fix it, Jim!" Rosie's voice echoed throughout the bridge.

"Damn it…" Jim sighed moving away from the console. "Where's Spock?"

"Here, Sir," the Vulcan announced as he walked back onto the bridge.

"Come with me," Jim said, nodding his head towards his ready room. Spock followed him silently. When the doors slid shut, isolating them from the rest of the bridge, Jim flopped down into the chair behind his desk with a sigh. "You're coming down to Qo'noS with me."

"Yes, sir…" Spock answered as Jim began rummaging through a drawer.

"How's Uhura's Klingon? She could be really useful if something happens."

"I believe it is not her best, but certainly adequate…" Spock trailed off as Jim withdrew a box from the drawer and continued to flip it open and closed. "What are you doing, Captain?"

Jim froze, realizing what he was doing. "Ah…" he started, trying to look for a cover up, but couldn't find one. "Here. Look." He flipped the box open again, and turned it around to reveal its contents.

"A diamond ring?" Spock reached forward and picked up the box. "You wish to ask Rosie to marry you?"

"I do. I had it made during the horta incident, but I haven't asked yet," Jim explained as Spock handed the box back to him. He flipped it shut and stuffed it back into the drawer. "I haven't found the right time yet."

Nodding, Spock answered him, "She will find the ring most beautiful. I am certain she will agree."

Jim smiled for the first time in a few days. "Thanks, Spock."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Oh goodness, sorry it's been a few days! My little kitty boy had his big neutering surgery on Friday, so I spent all day Friday worrying about him, and all weekend taking care of him! Hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

Rosie and Chekov were so busy trying to make repairs to the warp core that she completely missed the fact that Jim, Spock, and Nyota had left the _Enterprise_ on the ship they had confiscated from K'normian arms dealers a while back. When she realized they'd left, she scurried over to the communications console and flipped it on. She turned the dial to the comm frequency she knew Jim always kept open for her when he was off ship, so she could hear what was going on without contacting him.

Uhura's voice started flowing out of the console, "We're outnumbered. Outgunned. There's no way we survive this if we come out attacking." Rosie's blood ran ice cold. "You brought me here to speak Klingon. Then let me speak Klingon."

"Don't lizen to zhat, Rozie," Chekov moved to stand next to her. Gently placing a hand on her arm, he tried to guide her away from the console. "It vill only make you zhat much more nervous."

"Right…" Rosie let the Russian guide her away from the console, but she wasn't able to give her full attention back to the warp core. She listened to Jim complain that the plan was never going to work, and she listened to Spock try to comfort him in his own, logical Vulcan way. Jim continued to debate with Spock, but she heard him shuffle around, passing out phasers.

Rosie's heart practically stuttered to a halt in her chest when she heard the first shots of phaser-fire erupt. There was no more talking, just shouts, explosions, and gunfire.

It seemed like it went on for eternity, but it could only have been a few minutes. She listened silently, pretending to continue working on the warp core. When it finally got quiet again, she heard Spock shout, "Stand down!"

"How many torpedoes?" a voice answered him. The sound made Rosie drop the wrench she'd been holding in disbelief. She turned and stared at the console, as if it had a view screen. Spock repeated his command as the man, Harrison presumably, shouted over him "How many torpedoes?!" There was a single blast of phaser fire again. "The torpedoes! The weapons you threated me with! How many are there!"

"Rozie, vhat are you doing?" Chekov's voice mumbled distantly to her.

When no one answered Harrison, Rosie moved forward and pressed the button on the console to speak back. "Seventy-two," she answered quietly. "There are seventy-two torpedoes."

"Rosie!" Jim yelped, and began fiddling with the communicator he had attached to his belt.

"I surrender," was the last thing Rosie heard Harrison say before Jim cut the communicator off.

XXXX

"What the hell, Rosie?!" Jim stormed angrily into engineering. "What were you thinking?!"

Grimacing before she turned to face him, she answered, "I don't know, Jim." Turning, she shrugged at him. There really was no other answer that she could give him. She had to go see Harrison in the brig before she could really say anything else.

"You could've gotten me killed! What if it was a Klingon?!"

"I knew it wasn't," she looked down at the floor as she spoke quietly. "I knew he'd surrender."

"And how did you know that? Were you there? Do you know something I don't about Harrison?"

"No," she looked up quickly. "I just…gut feeling."

"I have to go," Jim shook his head at her. "This is…this is just nonsense. Bones is ordering me to report to sickbay to be checked over of course. How long until the warp core is useable again?"

"Maybe fifteen…twenty minutes?" Rosie answered him, but she had no idea. Chekov had been the only one working on it since the firefight had broken out on Qo'noS. She really had no clue where he was in the repairs.

"Good, good. And this conversation isn't over," Jim told her as he turned to leave.

"Of course not." She waited until she was absolutely certain he was out of sight, and then took off at a run towards the brig.

XXXX

Rosie slowed her pace as she rounded the corner and approached the door leading to the brig. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it might erupt out of her chest. Her hand hovered in hesitation over the security panel for a moment, but ultimately she tapped her fingers gingerly over the panel. The security override in the machine, the doors slid open silently.

The sound of her boots hitting the floor echoed off the walls as she stepped into the room. The doors slid shut behind her, isolating her from the rest of the ship,

The room was empty, except for the tall man behind the clear wall of the brig's cell. He had his back to her, but she was sure he knew she was there. Rosie felt like she couldn't breathe. It took a few tries before she managed to squeak out the name, "Daniel?"

"Rosalyn," Harrison turned around and fixed her with the intense gaze she so distinctly remembered, but hadn't seen in almost seven years. "You know that's not my name."

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before she could finally say the name she'd never been able to say aloud. "Khan."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Finally! Sorry about the long update again! Kitty boy got an infection from his neutering and needed his mama's full attention! Sorry that's it's a shorter chapter than usual, but I felt I needed to end it there. Please let me know what you thought!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

"Daniel?"

"Rosalyn," Harrison turned around and fixed her with the intense gaze she so distinctly remembered, but hadn't seen in almost seven years. "You know that's not my name."

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before she could finally say the name she'd never been able to say aloud. "Khan."

The corner of Harrison's mouth twitched into a shadow of a smile as she said his real name. "I've missed you, Rosalyn," he told her. "The years have been agonizing without you."

Rosie glanced around the room. There were no guards, no security camera, nothing watching her or Khan. She took a single step towards the see-through wall, closer to the man she never thought she'd see again.

As if reading her thoughts, Khan tilted his head to the side and spoke again, "I am indeed here in front of you. You needn't be afraid I'll disappear if you come closer."

She hesitated for a moment, weighing the repercussions in her mind, but her heart won out and her feet carried her across the room. She placed her right hand flat against the clear wall, fingers splayed, right next to her face. "Where did you go? Why did you leave me behind?"

Khan locked his pale gaze on her hand, and after a heartbeat, he raised his left and laid it flat against the wall, where hers was. "I did not wish to leave you. But Starfleet made an…offer I could not ignore."

"Why didn't you tell me? I needed you!" The hurt flashed in her green eyes.

"Where they sent me…it was classified…"

"But Dan…Khan…" Rosie let her hand drop from the wall. "I know now they sent you to section thirty-one in London. You could've told me…you dropped of the face of the Earth. They changed your name! Erased you from Starfleet history!"

"I know, I know," Khan's other hand came up to rest on the clear wall. "I was not able to tell you at the time. You were supposed to be in the process of being reassigned. To come out to section thirty-one to be with me. Admiral Marcus was filing the paperwork…and you never showed up."

"How can you not know why I didn't?" Rosie took a step back from the wall. "It was all over Starfleet's news."

"I had heard something about a medical emergency, but other than that I was quarantined. Kept away from all other personnel and media..."

"You left me alone with Dr. Michaels," the tears sprang into her eyes as she started recounting what happened. "He was always a little off. But after you disappeared and Starfleet started confiscating our experimental console, he completely lost it when word came down that I was being reassigned! He thought you and I stole the project and were running off with it to cut him out of being given credit for working on it! He's the reason I was in medical! He's the reason my transfer was cancelled!" Rosie was shrieking now.

"What are you talking about…"

Wrenching the collar of her uniform dress to the left, she exposed the long scar curving down her chest. "He cornered me. A few weeks after you left, he cornered me in a hallway. We were all alone. He told me if…if he couldn't have the credit for working with us, then neither could I. He raped me, and then tried to carve me open with a laser cutter," her shrieks were turning into hiccupping sobs. "And the worst part is they never found him. He vanished, just like you did. Then Starfleet kept me in San Francisco for security purposes. Because he was on the loose."

"Rosalyn…" Khan's voice was softer now, gentler. "Come back near me. Open the medical window." She looked up at him through watery eyes. "You know I will not hurt you."

Rosie didn't hesitate at that statement. Quickly, she reached over and tugged the medical portal over to in front of her, in between her and Khan's bodies. Without a word, she flicked her hand and expanded it to as wide as it would go; just enough for Khan to get an arm through it.

The man reached through the portal with his hand, and hovered it hesitantly over Rosie's cheek. When she didn't flinch or move away, he brought it down gently and used his thumb to wipe away the tears that he could reach. "Had I known, I would have come back. I promise you." Rosie's tears poured out harder, and she wanted nothing more at the moment than to hug Khan. "When my mission here is done, I will find him and bring him to justice for you. It is the least I can do for all the pain I have caused you."

Rosie raised her right hand and placed it over Khan's hand, on top of her cheek. "I can't believe you're alive…"

But she didn't get to say anything more, as the door to the brig opened and in walked Jim. "Rosie!" he yelped, seeing a fugitive with his hand near his girlfriend. "Get away from him!"

**XXXX**

**A/N: Okay, so I apologize once again for the super short chapter. I'm quite busy at work this morning, but I definitely wanted to get something out for you guys to read! Shout-out to Paperback-Insomniac for being one of the few people to realize it was Khan all along haha! Thank you for sticking around so long; you're amazing :) Also, just FYI I'm leaving for my honeymoon on Friday, so I probably won't update for almost a week. I'll see what happens, but don't count on it :P**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

Jim met Bones and Spock in the hall, just outside the brig. "Why did he surrender?" Bones was asking him as they continued walking.

"I don't know," Jim shrugged, his mind racing. "I'm more concerned with why Rosie felt the need to talk to him through the comm and how he managed to take out an army of Klingons on his own."

"Sounds like we have a superman on board," Bones chuckled a bit, not really believing the implications.

As they rounded the corner and entered the brig, Jim's heart just about stopped. Khan had his hand through the medical window and was holding Rosie by her neck. "Rosie!" he yelled, dashing away from Bones and Spock who stood silently, in shock. "Get away from him!" He made it across the room in the blink of an eye, wrapping his arms around Rosie's waist, and wrenching her away from the clear wall.

"Jimmy!" Rosie shrieked as she felt her body fly backwards. Jim was in such a frantic state, he hadn't had a firm grip on her, and she slipped, flopping ungracefully onto the floor. Scrambling, she stood up and backed up, inching away from all four men in front of her.

It took Jim a moment to realize that the glare she was shooting at him was one of anger. "What's going on? He was hurting you…"

"Rosie?" Khan's voice echoed from behind Jim's body. Everyone turned to look at the man. "Rosie?" Khan repeated, his brow wrinkled in contemplation, as if he was trying to understand a foreign tongue.

Jim glanced back and forth between his fugitive and his girlfriend. Rosie looked down at her feet, not meeting his gaze. "You're the only one who's ever called me by my full first name," she mumbled, unconsciously tucking strands of blonde hair behind her ear.

"But I never call you Rosal…" Jim started but his voice trailed off. He flicked his gaze back and forth again before continuing, "You're not talking to me." Rosie shook her head. He turned to his left, "Spock, take her out of here. Take her back to her quarters. I'll be there soon."

Spock nodded and moved over towards Rosie. "Come with me," he said gently, placing his hands on her shoulders and pushing lightly to guide her. Rosie winced a bit, not wanting to leave, but nodded her head.

"Keep your hands off her!" Khan snarled from inside the clear cell, slamming his fists against the wall.

"Please don't," Rosie looked up at him, her eyes pleading, as Spock continued to lead her away slowly. "Don't make it harder. I'll come back. I promise."

Once Spock had Rosie completely out of the room, Jim turned back to the fugitive. "Put your arm back through the hole," Jim ordered. "The doctor here is going to take a blood sample." He tried to keep his composure blank. Harrison, at least that's what Jim knew him as, silently rolled up his sleeve and offered up his arm.

Bones moved forward and jabbed the injection into the proffered arm. As the tube was filling with dark red blood, Harrison spoke for the first time since Rosie had been removed from the room. "Why aren't we moving, Captain?" he arched an eyebrow. "A malfunction in your warp core perhaps? Conveniently stranding you on the edge of Klingon space? With your best engineer clearly indisposed?"

"How the hell do you know that?" Bones grumbled in his angry-doctor voice.

"Bones," Jim warned him.

"I think you'd find my insight valuable, Captain," Harrison said smoothly.

Jim ignored him. "You good?" he turned to Bones.

"Yeah," Bones nodded and began walking away.

"Let me know what you find," Jim turned from the fugitive and began walking away as well.

"Ignore me," Harrison called after him, "and you will get everyone on this ship killed. I will not let you do that to Rosalyn. She has suffered enough in her short life already."

Jim took a deep breath, trying to compose himself before he turned back around. When he did, he marched back over to the cell. "Let me explain what's happening here," Jim squared his shoulders as he spoke. "You are a criminal. I watched you murder innocent men and women. I was authorized to end you! And the only reason you're still alive is because I am allowing it. You don't get to make demands here. You don't get to talk about Rosie. Don't even mention her. She's nothing to you. So shut your mouth."

Harrison chuckled a bit. "Oh, Captain. Are you going to punch me again? Over and over until your arm weakens? You clearly want to so badly, so tell me, why did you allow me to live?"

"We all make mistakes."

"No, I surrendered to you because despite your attempt to convince me otherwise, Mr. Kirk, you seem to have a conscience. Clearly Rosalyn believes the same…"

"Don't call her that!" Jim shouted, slamming his fist into the wall, near Harrison's face. "That's not her name!"

"It is her name," Harrison answered. "And if you did not have a conscience, it would be impossible for me to convince you of the truth. Twenty-three-seventeen-forty six-eleven. Coordinates, not far from Earth. If you want to know why I did what I did, go and take a look."

"Give me one good reason why I should listen to you."

"I can give you seventy-three. Seventy-two of them have been on board your ship all along. I suggest you open one up. The other singular reason is Rosalyn. She will undoubtedly vouch for my believability. She is far more knowledgeable than most give her credit for."

XXXX

Rosie had started silently crying as they left the brig, but had managed to get herself under control when she and Spock reached her quarters. The doors opened easily enough for them, and Spock ushered her inside and sat her down on a couch. "I am certain the captain will be here shortly," the Vulcan started, unsure of what to do for the girl. "Is there anything you require?"

Rosie started to shake her head, but stopped. "I need to go back to the brig."

"I cannot allow you to do that," Spock sunk down into the chair across from her. "I apologize. Do you…what do you know of Harrison?" Rosie flicked her green eyes up to his face and looked contemplative. "I apologize again. This is a conversation that should include the captain…"

"I'm here," Jim answered as he barreled into Rosie's quarters. "We're going to have this conversation right now." He fixed her with a gaze. "You will tell us what you know about him, Rosie."

**XXXX**

**A/N: OMG so sorry for being gone for so long! Like I said last chapter, I was on my honeymoon in Hawaii for the week last week! Hope this chapter makes up for my absence! I really appreciate all your guys feedback :) It was fantastic to wake up to reviews while I was waaaaay away from home!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

"We're going to have this conversation right now." Rosie shrunk back a bit from the harshness in Jim's voice. "You will tell us what you know about him, Rosie."

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Closing it, she thought for a few moments while Jim and Spock stared at her. "I…don't know if I can," she finally managed to force the words out.

"Of course you can," Jim grumbled. "You are capable of speaking…"

At the same time, Spock chimed in, "Why do you believe you cannot?"

"I promised."

Jim looked like he was going to argue with that, but Spock responded quickly, cutting him off, "You promised what?"

"I promised…Daniel…all those years ago that I'd never tell."

"Daniel?" Clearly Spock wasn't in on the information surrounding Rosie's past.

"Rosie's ex," Jim supplied, not taking his eyes off of her. "The guy she built that classified project with. The one on the bridge."

"I see."

"What did you promise him?"

"He…he…" Rosie struggled with saying it. After seven years of hiding the knowledge, it was a hard thing to break. "He made me promise not to tell anyone his name."

"His name?" Jim eyebrows furrowed. "But you talk about him all the time. I know his name."

"If I am correctly assessing the situation," Spock spoke, "Daniel was not the man's true name." Rosie nodded. "It appears Daniel is John Harrison, and he had Rosie promise not to tell anyone that his name was Harrison."

"No!" Rosie yelped, shaking her head rapidly.

"No? No what?"

"Yes…the man in the brig is Daniel. But no…John Harrison isn't his name either."

"Seriously? How many names does this guy have?" Jim shook his head.

"Clearly numerous," Spock answered. The three were quiet for a few minutes, with Rosie offering up no more information. Finally, Spock broke the silence, "What is his real name then?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why the hell not?" Jim tried not to shout, but the phrase came out much harsher than he meant for it to.

"I can't!" the tears sprung back up into her eyes. "I promised! I don't go back on my promises! He said it could get us both killed! I've had enough of almost being killed in my life!"

Rosie was quickly dissolving into hysterics. Out of the corner of his eye, Jim noticed Spock shifting uncomfortably. "Why don't you go back to the bridge, Spock?" Jim tried. "I've got this covered."

Taking the cue, Spock stood up quickly. "Of course, Captain. I will return to check on you both later." And with that, the Vulcan made a hasty exit from the room.

Once the door had closed behind Spock, Jim returned his gaze to Rosie. Her hiccupping sobs were slowing, but not gone entirely. He wanted to go sit next to her, to wrap his arm around her and tell her everything would be alright, but he just couldn't force himself to move. He felt like he was losing her.

"You won't tell me his name." A statement, not a question.

"No." Rosie confirmed. "He'll tell you himself if that's what he wants."

"You cared about him a lot when you were seventeen…" Rosie seemed to take that statement in and interpret it a good deal before nodding her head. Jim didn't want to ask the question that was sitting on the tip of his tongue, but it jumped out, "Are you still in love with him?"

Rosie seemed to shake her head negatively for a moment, but then stopped. She contemplated the question again for a while, and finally, let out a deep sign. "I don't know."

"But you're in love with me?" Jim squeaked helplessly, looking for something to grasp at.

"Absolutely," Rosie answered without any hesitation. "I love you, Jimmy. Don't you ever think otherwise."

"So…" Jim tried to process the information, "you're definitely in love with me…but you might be with him as well?"

"I'm sorry, Jimmy," tears leaked out of her eyes, their green color shimmering. "I…I don't know what I feel about him. I don't want to lie to you. I thought he was dead. I thought I'd never see him again. And then, seven years later, I hear his voice coming through our comm frequency, demanding to know about the torpedoes…a voice I thought was gone forever. It was like I was possessed, I had to answer. And even then I was sure I was crazy. It wasn't until I went to the brig and talked to him that I even considered the possibility that he was really here. On the _Enterprise_. I don't know what to do."

"I know you're confused," Jim finally managed to get himself to stand up and move over near her. He finally wrapped his arm around her waist, and she leaned into the contact. "We'll sort it out together. After we turn him in."

"He's not a bad man," she sniffled from his shoulder.

"He's a terrorist. He killed all those people."

"He must've had some reason."

Jim sighed. He wasn't going to argue the point with her. Instead, he changed tactics, "When I was leaving the brig, Harrison gave me some coordinates. Twenty-three-seventeen-forty six-eleven," he recited from memory. "Do those mean anything to you?"

Rosie's face scrunched up into her I'm-trying-to-process-this-info face for a few moments, before she shrugged. "No, they don't. They're near Earth, I suppose, but other than that I don't know. Why? Do you know something about it?"

"No," Jim shook his head. "He said if I wanted to know why he did what he did, I should look there."

"Well, then you'd better go look."

"If the ship was working, I would." He fixed her with a glare.

Rosie flushed deeply. "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. I don't even know what's wrong. I'll get right back to work…"

She moved to get up, but Jim held her down. "No, you won't." She looked up at him confusedly. "If Bones hasn't already filed it, I'll have him do it. You're way too emotionally compromised to be around such dangerous equipment. I love you, and I won't let you get hurt because you're not paying attention."

"Seriously?" Jim nodded, and she sighed in resignation. "You know who you should call about the coordinates?"

"Who?"

"Scotty."

"Goddamn it. I know I should, but he's not going to be happy."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Woohoo next chapter! Sorry it's a wee bit short. New clients coming to visit at work today, so I just don't have time to make it longer if I'm going to get it out to you today! Hope you enjoyed! I love everyone's feedback; it makes me so happy!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

"You know who you should call about the coordinates?"

"Who?"

"Scotty."

"Goddamn it. I know I should, but he's not going to be happy."

"Um…yeah, he is," Rosie laughed a bit. "You deserve it though. You forced him to resign his duties."

"I did not force him!" Jim scoffed. When Rosie rolled her eyes, he continued, "I didn't! All he had to do was sign for the torpedoes! Then he wouldn't be where he is now."

"If I hadn't signed for the torpedoes, we wouldn't be in this mess at all," Rosie's shoulders slumped. "Scotty told me not to sign for them, but I didn't listen. I said I had to, because someone had to watch your back, and now look where we are. I'm the one causing all the problems."

"It's not your fault," Jim hugged her tighter. He pulled his communicator off his belt and put in the frequency numbers to contact Scotty on Earth. It chirped a few times before a voice answered.

"What?" Scotty's voice rang through Rosie's quarters.

"Scotty, it's Kirk," Jim said into the machine. Before he could get another word out though, Scotty started talking.

"Oh...well now," Scotty's voice was full of venom. "If it isn't Captain James Tiberius Perfect Hair!"

Rosie snorted at that one. "Shut up," Jim told her.

"Is that you, Rosie, lass?" Scotty's disembodied voice asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"Hiya, lass," Scotty started babbling a bit. "How are ye doing?"

"Not so good."

"Wha's…"

"Where are you?" Jim cut in.

"Where are _you_?" Scotty's voice countered.

"Are you drunk?" Jim's eyebrows crept up his forehead with the realization.

"What I do in my private time is my own business, Jimbo."

"I need you to do something for me," Jim closed his eyes as he admitted it, knowing it wasn't going to go over well. "Will you take these coordinates down? Twenty-three-seventeen-forty six-eleven." Scotty was silent for a moment. "Are you writing?"

"You don't think I can remember four numbers?" Scotty's voice chuckled a bit. "Oh, ye of little faith…what was the third one again?"

"Forty six," Rosie supplied. "Please Scotty, it's really really important."

"I don't know exactly what you're looking for," Jim continued, "but I have a feeling you'll know it when you see it. You may have been right about those torpedoes."

"Jimmy!" Rosie yelped at him, loud enough that she was certain Scotty could hear over the comm. "He was absolutely right about those torpedoes!"

Scotty was quiet for another moment. "I will consider that an apology. And I was consider that apology."

Jim laughed, "You are the one that quit. Ouch!" Rosie was sure again that Scotty heard the thump of her smacking Jim across the shoulder.

"You made me quit!" Scotty yelled, and the communicator disconnected.

"Mr. Scott?" Jim asked. When there was no answer, he groaned.

"Way to go, Jimmy. Way to go," Rosie shook her head. "I'm sure he'll look into it."

"You think?"

"He has to be curious enough now to want to look into it. For himself rather than you at the very least." Rosie sighed. "What do we do now?"

"I think we should do what Harrison suggests."

XXXX

It took about twenty minutes, but Jim managed to gather himself, Rosie, Spock, and Bones on the bridge. "Are you out of your corn fed mind?" Bones hissed quietly, so as not to attract too much attention. The doctor was pacing around the bridge, almost circling Jim as he took in what Jim was saying. "You actually going to listen to this guy? This terrorist? He killed Pike. He almost killed you. And now he tells ya to pop open one of the torpedoes, so you just say 'Okay'?" His southern accent continued to thicken as he rambled, showing how nervous he was.

"Why did he save our lives, Bones?" Jim's voice was tired. He didn't want to argue with anyone about it anymore. He was too emotionally drained from the discussion with Rosie.

"The doctor does have a point, Captain," Spock answered.

"Don't agree with me, Spock," Bones stopped his pacing for a moment. "It makes me even more uncomfortable."

"Rosie thinks it's what we need to do," Jim tried that angle. Under normal circumstances, it probably would've worked.

Bones threw his hands up in the air and began pacing again, this time more vigorously. "Rosie's opinions have nothing to do with this," the doctor jabbed a finger towards the girl who was standing on the outside of their group, silently staring at her feet. "Her emotions are completely out of control because that man is on board the ship. She absolutely cannot know what's the right thing to do."

"Perhaps you should learn to reign in your own emotions, Doctor," Spock spoke up in Rosie's defense. "Logic dictates…"

"Logic" Bones yelled, attracting the attention of a few of the crewmembers nearby. "There's a maniac that's trying to convince us to blow up our own damn ship, and you're talking about logic?"

"That's not it!" Jim cut in quietly, hoping to bring the other two men's tones down. "Look. We're going to open a torpedo. The question is how."

"Jim's already said I can't be involved," Rosie spoke for the first time.

"But without Mr. Scott on board and with Rosie being forbidden from going near the thing, who exactly is qualified to just pop open a four-ton stick of dynamite, Jim?" Bones asked.

"The admiral's daughter seemed to have interest in the torpedoes, and she is a weapons specialist," Spock supplied. "Perhaps she can be of some use."

Jim's face scrunched up as he tried to place who Spock was talking about. Finally, he gave up. "What admiral's daughter?"

"Carol Marcus," Spock answered curtly. "Your new science officer concealed her identity to board the ship."

There was a murmur from behind them that sounded suspiciously like Rosie mumbling the word "bitch." When all three men looked towards her, she shrugged. "What? I told you I didn't like her on the shuttlecraft, Spock."

"When were you going to tell me you didn't like her?" Jim directed his first question at Rosie, and then turned to face Spock. "When were you going to tell me she was lying?"

Rosie just shrugged again, while Spock answered, "When it became relevant. As it just did."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Another chapter! I feel like I'm making good progress on this one. I didn't expect to write so much because I had a rough night of no sleep mixed with my kitten being trouble, but the words just kept coming. Hope you guys enjoyed! Please don't hesitate ever to let me know whatcha think!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Still, three stories in, don't own anybody except for Rosie. No monies, nada. Just for fun :) The only thing I get out of it is knowing I'm writing something people enjoy.**

**XXXX**

Finding Carol and getting her to supply answers proved easy enough. Dragging Rosie behind him to keep his eye on her, Jim trailed behind Carol.

"Are the torpedoes in the weapons bay?" Carol asked, her bobbed hair flying wildly as she tried to keep from running ahead.

"Yes," Rosie answered, tired of being left out.

"Locked and ready to be fire," Jim supplied. "What are they?"

"I don't know," Carol shook her head. "That's why I forged my transfer onto your ship to find out why."

"You know, if you had let me look at that transfer, I could've told you it was forged," Rosie piped up from behind the two again. "It's a really hard thing to forge well."

Neither of the two acknowledged her, but Carol ducked in front of Jim, holding her hands up. "I do apologize for that. The forged transfer," she leaned over and tried to give Rosie an apologetic smile. Leaning back to look at Jim, she continued, "By the way, if I've caused you any problems," her eyes darted towards his shoulder, indicating Rosie, "I am sorry. I'm Carol Marcus." She reached out and grasped his hand to shake it.

"James Kirk," Jim nodded, and tugging on Rosie's hand still firmly held in his, he pulled her up next to him instead of her skulking behind. "And Rosie Moure," Jim introduced her.

Carol nodded, and then said, "Torpedoes." And with that, she took off, not quite running, but certainly not walking.

Rosie wrenched her hand out of his hand. "I'm going back to my quarters," she announced. When Jim looked like he was going to argue with her, "Just go, Jim. You need to do this, and I'm not allowed to help in anyway. And I can't stand here and watch her flirt with you anymore. Just go." And with that, she turned and walked away.

Jim was torn. He'd never let Rosie walk away from him like that before, and he certainly didn't want to now, but as she'd pointed out, he didn't have much of a choice. He followed Carol to the weapons bay.

XXXX

Rosie did indeed go back to her quarters, but she stopped just outside them. Sighing, she turned and headed towards the brig. She knew Jim wouldn't want her there, but she had to do something. She had to ask Khan about the torpedoes; perhaps he would tell her something.

She walked slowly, looking dejected, so as not to attract attention to the direction she was going. When she reached the doorway to the brig, it was, thankfully, deserted despite there being a terrorist in there. She typed in her override, but the door bleeped at her, rejecting the code.

She rolled her eyes, knowing Jim had obliviously changed the basic override code, but she had four others that he didn't know about. She programmed the damn door for goodness sake. Typing the next one in the sequence in, the door chirped and let her in.

Khan stood in the middle of the cell. He turned to see who had entered the room and his posture relaxed a bit when he realized it was Rosie. "You've returned," he said quietly.

"I said I'd come back," she answered, stepping closer to the wall.

"To keep your word or for your captain?" Khan asked. He managed to keep his voice steady, but Rosie could see the potential hurt in his eyes.

"To keep my word," she answered. "And for my starship." She gestured around the room. "Jim doesn't want me in here. He thinks I'm in my quarters."

Khan nodded, taking in the information. He began pacing slightly before he spoke again, "You and the captain. You are together."

Rosie looked down at her feet. "We are."

"How long?"

"I met him when I was twenty," she admitted, remembering that day that obnoxious, idiotic twenty-two year old cadet had flopped himself down alongside her and harassed her. "We...I didn't like him at first. He was rude. Abrasive. A womanizer."

Khan shut his eyes and took a deep breath before saying, "You deserve much better than him."

Rosie ignored the statement and continued on with her story, "It took… a while. Months even, before I'd actually talked to him. We became friends. And then the explosion happened…"

"What explosion?" Khan's voice tightened.

"A cadet accidently combined two volatile chemicals in a lab I was overseeing. The whole room exploded. I was banged up really badly." Khan winced. "Jim and Bones…Dr. McCoy, the doctor who took the blood sample from you," Rosie clarified, "They took care of me the entire time. And then the Narada incident happened…"

"I had heard about that. You were involved?" 

"Yeah, that's when…" she shrugged, "Jim and I…anyway. We got caught the pull of a black hole caused by red matter. We wouldn't have made it out if it weren't for the fact that when the _Enterprise _was in production, I installed one of our consoles underneath the actual console on the bridge. I rebuilt one after you disappeared. I know, I know, it was stupid because it was your design, and I didn't know enough about it to be attempting it, but I needed…_something_ of you when you disappeared."

"I am proud that you were able to recreate a functioning console without me." Khan smiled a bit. "I never doubted you could. I just wanted you safe. You have grown into an impeccable engineer."

Rosie smiled. "What's in the torpedoes, Khan?" she finally asked the question.

"I am sure your captain is in the process of figuring that out," he answered, evasive as always.

"This has nothing to do with Jim," Rosie retorted. Khan raised an eyebrow at her. "Alright, so maybe a little. But the bigger picture is that if one of those torpedoes goes off on my ship, it could kill tons of innocent people. And then I'd have to kill you for destroying my starship."

Khan let out a laugh. "It seems in the years apart you have grown to be more bold. I enjoy that. I look forward to having my crew back once this nonsense is over and having you join us. It will be interesting to see what else has changed."

"Your…crew?" Rosie's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Join you?"

"Rosalyn," Khan moved forward and placed his hands on the clear wall, "I promise, I will not leave you behind again. I've made that mistake too many times already. I will explain everything…"

He didn't get to say anything else though, because Jim barged in once again. He came and stood right alongside Rosie, and for good measure, wrapped his arm around her waist before asking, "Why is there a man in that torpedo?"

**XXXX**

**A/N: Oh goodness, I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up! Most of my free time at work has been spent on hold on the phone trying to get my name changed to my husband's last name. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know your thoughts!**


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